Cliff Side
by Artemisdesari
Summary: Takes place after AWE, Will visits every ten years, an account of some of the visits. WARNING: not necessarily a happy ending for all!


Cliff side

_**Disclaimer: I don't own it, and I never will. I wish I did, really I do, but all I have is this little one shot.**_

_This is my first Pirates fic, whether there will ever be another is another matter entirely. Please don't hurt me for what I do in this fic, it was an idea that came to me as I walked back from seeing AWE. R&R and let me know what you think, but please no flames, can't handle those._

The first time he came back, there was a boy with her, his son, his only child. For the first time in ten years he feels joy and happiness, he feels complete and he can almost fool himself into thinking that he can feel his heart beating in his chest, almost.

She has hardly changed, hardly because she has gained a few lines where there had once been none. She has given up the sea for his child, always living by the shore, and he knew, before he spoke to her, that she watched the horizon every night in the hope of seeing the Dutchman rise from the depths to claim a nearby soul.

The day they have passes too swiftly, all too soon it ends and as he leaves, he swears to himself that he will try to save her. He will try to give her the gift of eternal life.

XXX

The next time he visits, the boy is grown and he is no closer to finding the answer to her immortality. In those ten years he has gathered the souls of old friends and old enemies, but he cannot tell her this, he cannot place his burdens on her when they have only this day, these twenty-four short hours, together.

To his heartbreak she is older still, the lines have become more pronounced and they have multiplied. Her glorious blonde hair is streaked with grey and not for the first time, he wonders why they did not just allow him to die, better than live with the sorrow. This time the shadow beating of his heart causes him nothing but pain, and he can see in her eyes that she feels the same.

XXX

On his third visit he learns that the boy, William, named for his father, is to marry. He tries to feel joy for him, but how do you feel joy when you have no heart? How can you rejoice for a family you will never know?

Yet again he has failed in his quest, and he knows that this may be his last chance, the next time he sees her could be the last. Calypso is a capricious goddess and she has thwarted his attempts on many an occasion. There has been so many times when he has been so close to his answer, only to have it ripped away as she sinks another ship and sends him to gather the souls of the dead, and offer a century on his crew to those who fear too greatly. Not even Jack was safe, now he serves, complaining and bragging all the way. He finds that he enjoy's Sparrow's continual chatter, it helps him get through the lonely years.

XXX

His fourth visit, his son is there, wife and child in tow. To one side stands the Captain's own wife, shawl about her shoulders and greying hair flying loose in the wind. The strength that took her through so much seems to leave her more and more each time he sees her, and he knows that it will not be long now until se departs this life. He greets his son and daughter, greets his grandson and then he goes to his wife, taking her frail body in his arms as he silently asks Calypso to grant him another visit, just one other, in tens years, another visit when she will still be there and waiting.

Calypso is a cruel goddess.

XXX

The fifth time he visits, she is not there, his son stands by the path, waiting for him, his face sorrowful, and the Captain knows that he has failed. William holds the chest in his arms and he offers it to his father, who simply shakes his head. He does not speak to his son, may never speak to a living soul again. William reclaims the chest, holding it as though it is made of glass, and leads his father to the grave of his mother.

The stone is simple, yet it had been decorated with a crowned skull and crossed bones, and even as he feels his tears of grief fall, he has to smile for his Pirate King. She must have told the children the tale a thousand times, and he knows that it will be told through the generations.

XXX

Every ten years he returns to that spot. Sometimes his descendants are waiting for him, with a new wife or child. Always a son, always named for his father. All seem to have this uncanny knack of staying alive to father an heir and pass on the story.

Each time he comes to the grave, he talks to her, tells her of the last ten years. For a time, his tales seem to grow less, as ships are improved, as they become safer and man becomes more able at resisting Calypso's anger, less people die at sea and he is called upon less. Then comes the Titanic and the Flying Dutchman has never seemed to hold so many.

Even contending with two world wars, and the countless lives lost at sea in that time, he is still able to make it to the grave for that one day, able to sit there and talk to her, and to the man who awaits him, boy in tow, for hours. He tells his tales of the high seas, tales of her and he feels the phantom beat of his heart as he does it.

XXX

One year when he comes, he realises that the boy who had greeted him has grown into a man, but he has not married. He does not question it, simply wonders who will take possession of the chest. The key burns warm over the scar, the only sign that his heart has been taken from him and he debates handing it over and ordering the man to take charge of his ship, to kill him and allow him to follow his long dead wife to wherever her soul may be. He cannot and will not. The ship is his burden.

XXX

She watches from a distance as the man climbs the cliff path and sits down beside the grave. In the distance she can see Old Man Turner walk towards him, greet him and then settle a respectful distance away, she can almost fancy that she can hear his bones creak. Old Turner may not last many more years, she knows, he never married, living at home alone with his books on pirates and his strange treasures. Once upon a time he had fascinated her and she had listened to his stories with fear and awe, later coming to believe that it was the delusional rambling of an old lonely man.

She remembers the tale he told her of the Sea Lord, the collector of the souls of all those who had died on the high seas. She remembers that Turner had told her that the lone grave on the cliff was that of the Sea Lord's dead wife, that the sea had called him, Calypso had taken him to perform his task and he had left her, young, alone and with child, able only to visit for one day every ten years. It was a romantic tale, and seeing the man by the grave, his clothes screaming Pirate in her ears she allowed herself to believe it was all true, if just for a moment.

He feels her watching them, little Lilly Sky, the girl who had come to hear his stories for all those years, the girl who he will one day name his successor.

XXX

Ten years later she stands in front of the headstone, the wind, rain and the sea have worn off most of the inscription, but her fingers can still trace the name. Elizabeth Turner. The woman of legend.

The chest sits at her feat and she can feel the hollow thud of the heart that beats within, though she has never seen it, she knows what William told her to be true. She has come to this spot on the same day every year, to pay her respects and wait, hoping that the Captain would come sooner and relieve her of her burden. William died four years ago, he passed his legacy on to her.

Lilly Sky looks out over the cliff path as the light of the setting sun flashes green for an instant. He will be coming in a few short moments. Walking up that path with a hollow set to his shoulders and dead humanity in his eyes. In this moment, she feels almost sick.

He sees her as he climbs the hill, recognises her as the girl William had mentioned watching them the last time he was here. Seeing the chest at her feet causes him to hesitate and he feels a rush of fear, the shadow heart speeding in his chest, even as the one at her feet stays calm. Her green eyes are wide and he senses her fear, not only of him, but of death. Once again, he feels the warm key burning into him.

"Captain Turner," she addresses him by name, the first person to do so in too long. Is that really his name? Not even the crew use it anymore. He glances at the chest at her feet, does not speak, merely raises his eyebrows, questions her with a look. "Lilly Sky, William's successor." She tries to sound confident and fails. He scowls as he realises that William is dead and gone. The last of his line.

"Why did you bring that?" He speaks to her for the first time. Miss Sky looks away, down at her feet, and he wonders again why he feels the fear of death from one so young.

"To return it to you, Captain. I cannot keep it."

"You have been charged with it, Miss Sky. Will you shirk your duties?" She shivers at his voice, it is low, dark and in any other time and place, she would have found it attractive. But he is a living ghost, a dangerous creature and she does not have the time to step around the truth.

"I'm dying, Captain Turner, I have cancer and the doctors have given me a little over a year to live. I cannot carry out my duty to you." He looks at her, his dark eyes unreadable as he searches her face.

"Do you fear death?" He asks her, almost the ritual question. She nods, but does not trust herself to speak. "Do you know of my task?" The question is more intent as his eyes continue to search. She nods again, she can see where this is going. "Could _you_ take on this duty? Carve out your heart for the ship and avoid death for eternity." She goes pale but nods again and he breathes a sigh of relief as he hands her the key to the chest. "Take out the heart and stab it. Do not fear what will happen. The crew will come for you and replace my heart with your own." She takes a shuddering breath, but nods, her own fear of death overriding her usual morals and barriers. "I ask only one thing. Instruct the crew to bury my body here, next to her," the love in his eyes makes Lilly's heart shatter in her chest, "and release Bootstrap Bill from his debt." Lilly nods and opens the chest, taking the still beating heart in her hand, she can only stare at it for a long while.

Will Turner shudders as he feels the knife enter his heart, the pain he experiences is oddly disjointed. He can feel the blackness wash over him, for a moment the pain intensifies and he hears Calypso shriek once, before Elizabeth's loving voice can be heard calling his name. He follows it, letting it lead him to wherever her soul resided, to join it, join her and be together for all of eternity.

Fin

_Sort of a happy ending. R&R, I live off them! This has been continued by Kiliro, I highly recommend that you read and review here: _http:// www. fanfiction. net/s/5473116/1/

_Artemis_


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